🧠 Pre-Rally Rituals: The Hidden Key to Consistent Junior Squash Performance 🐯

Every rally in squash begins before the ball is struck. The best players in the world don’t just react; they prepare. That preparation often takes the form of a pre-rally ritual, a short, repeatable routine that brings focus, control, and confidence to the moment before play begins.

For junior squash players, this small habit can have an outsized effect on performance.

🎯 Why Pre-Rally Rituals Work

1️⃣ They anchor attention

Between points, a player’s mind can easily drift toward the last mistake or the next score. A ritual, something as simple as a deep breath, a towel wipe, or a self-statement like “see it early,” creates a reliable cue that says: refocus here, now.

2️⃣ They regulate emotion

Matches are emotional by nature, especially for younger players. A consistent routine calms nerves, lowers heart rate, and prevents negative momentum from spiraling.

3️⃣ They promote consistency

By performing the same steps before every rally, players start each point from a similar physical and mental baseline. This stability is essential in a sport where intensity and decision speed fluctuate constantly.

4️⃣ They enhance decision making

Routines free up cognitive bandwidth. Instead of worrying about what just happened, a player can think clearly about where to serve, how to start the rally, and what the first tactical cue might be.

📚 What the Research Says

Dr. Robert Singer, one of the pioneers in sport psychology, emphasized the power of pre-performance routines in his seminal paper:

Singer, R. N. (2002). Preperformance state, routines, and automaticity: What does it take to realize expertise? Journal of Sport and Exercise Psychology, 24(4), 359–375.

Singer showed that athletes who used structured pre-performance routines performed with greater focus and stability under pressure. Later work by Cotterill (2010) confirmed that these benefits extend across levels and sports, including racket sports, improving attention control, confidence, and execution.

🐯 How We Teach It at Squash Tigers

Our players learn a simple three-step framework:

1️⃣ Acknowledge the Circumstance – Recognize what just happened (“I lost that point,” “It’s 8–9,” “My opponent is attacking”).

2️⃣ Give a Forward-Looking Action Statement – Set intention (“Hit my length early,” “Get my racquet up”).

3️⃣ Affirm Readiness – A short cue or phrase (“Let’s go,” “I’m ready,” “Breathe and attack”).

This process takes only a few seconds but it turns emotional noise into productive focus.

💬 Final Thought

Pre-rally rituals might look like superstition, but in reality, they are one of the most evidence-based tools in performance psychology. They help young players handle stress, stay composed, and make smarter choices under pressure, skills that last far beyond the court.

Train it. Repeat it. Trust it.